Device for stripping tobacco from laths.



No. 70l,334. Patented June 3, I902.

F. E. GULLICKSON.

DEVICE FOR STRIPPING TOBACCO FROM LATHS.

3n uzmtoz Gladden? 6070 (Application filed Mar. 29, 1902.]

(No Model.)

qlvmmm UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRED E. GULLIOKSON, OF OASHTON, WISCONSIN DEVICE FOR STRIPPING TOBACCO FROM LATHS SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 701,334, dated June 3, 1902.

Application filed March 29, 1902.

To all whom If; may concern:

Beit known that I, FRED E. GULLIcKsoN,a citizen of the United States, residing at Cashton,in the county of Monroe and State of Wisconsin, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Devices for Stripping Tobacco from Laths; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

In harvesting and curing tobacco it is customary to string the plants upon a lath or strip which is passed through the plants close to the roots. After the tobacco is cured or reaches a stage in the curing process requiring its removal from the lath or strip considerable difficulty and labor are experienced in the operation of removing the tobacco from the lath or strip.

This invention has for its purpose the provision of a device tofacilitate the removal of the tobacco from the strip or lath and to minimize the labor and time required for the work aforesaid.

For a full description of the invention and the merits thereof and also to acquire a knowledge of the details of construction of the means for effecting the result, reference is to be had to the following description and drawings hereto attached.

While the essential and characteristic fea tures of the invention are susceptible of modification, still the preferred embodiment of the invention is illustrated in the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure l is a perspective view of a device to facilitate the removal of tobacco-plants from the strip or lath constructed in accordance with and embodying the vital features of the invention. Fig. 2 is a top plan view thereof, showing the operation by dotted lines. Fig. 3 is a transverse section, the dotted lines showing the apron and the support therefor reversed.

Corresponding and like parts are referred. to in the following description and indicated in all the views of the drawings by the same reference characters.

The stand is approximately of trestle form and comprises spaced beams 1, legs 2, andlongitudinal and transverse connecting-bars 3 Serial No. 100.587. (No model.)

and 4. A standard 5 is located near one end of the stand and is attached to the spaced beams 1 and is provided in its upper end with a notch 6. A standard 7 is located at the 0pposite end of the stand and is attached to the other end portions of the beams 1 and is provided in its upper end with an open slot 8 of a size to snugly receive the lath or strip 9, upon which the tobacco-plants 10 are strung or mounted. A circular boss 11 projects laterally from the inner side of the standard 7 and is centrally apertured to receive a journal of the roller 12, the journal at the opposite end of the roller entering the notch 6 of the standard 5. The boss 11 is below the slot 8 and in vertical line therewith. The part 5 will be designated hereinafter as the tailstandard and the part 7 as the head-standard, and these standards serve to connect corresponding end portions of the spaced beams 1, to which they are firmly and rigidly attached.

Bars 13 project laterally from the top side of the stand and are removably and reversely connected thereto, their inner end portions being fitted into clips 14E, attached to the top side of the beams l. Shoulders 15 are formed near the inner ends of the bars 13 to engage with one of the beams l and limit the inward movement of the bars 13 when placed in position. The bars 13 are slipped into the clips 14 and are adapted to be reversed, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby adapting the device either for right-hand or lefthand use. The bars 13 form supports for the apron 16, upon which the tobacco-plants rest when the'lath or strip 9 is placed in position preliminary to stripping the tobacco therefrom, the tobacco-plants collecting in a bunch at one end of the apron as they are removed from the strip when the latter is drawn through the slot 8 of the head-standard 7, this being clear from the illustration in Fig. 2.

The roller 12 may be of any material, wood being found best adapted for the purpose, and is provided with terminal journals to obtain bearing in the head and tail standards. The apron 16 is attached to the roller 12 in any convenient and substantial Way and may be of any flexible material, textile fabric, such as duck or canvas, being found most suit able for the purpose.

The apron is stiffened ICO and braced at intervals by means of slats 17, which are secured to opposite sides of the apron, the latter being clamped between corresponding slats. These slats 17 rest 'upon the supporting-bars 13 and hold the apron 16 straight. Straps or billets 18 are attached to the outer end of the apron and are adapted to be connected to the outer ends of the supporting bars 13, so as to hold the apron stretched, any means being employed for connection of the straps 18 to the said bars, and, as shown, pins 19 are applied to the outer end portions of'the bars 13 and are adapted to enter one of a series of openings in the straps or billets 18. A guard 20 projects above and below the apron at the end adjacent to the head-standard and serves to hold the tobacco upon the apron when stripping it from the lath 9.

The apron may project from either side of the stand, as shown by the full and dotted lines in Fig. 3, thereby adapting it to the convenience of the operator and to the available space in which it may be placed when in use. When the apron-supporting bars 13 are removed, the device is greatly reduced in width and the apron 16 may be rolled upon the part 12, thereby economizing space and enabling the device to be reduced to a compact form. When the bars 18 are in place and the apron v stretched, the device is ready for use, and the tobacco is stripped from the lath 9 by placing the latter upon the roller 12, with the tobacco 10 resting upon the apron, the end of the lath adjacent to the head-standard 7 being fitted into the slot 8 and the lath or strip 9 drawn outward through said slot 8, thereby removing or stripping the tobacco from the lath, the plants collecting in a bunch upon one end of the apron, as shown by the dotted lines in Fig. 2. It will thus be seen that the operation of stripping the tobacco from the lath may be quickly performed with a minimum amount of fatigue, annoyance, and injury to the hands of the operator.

Having thus described the invention, what is claimed as new is 1. In a device for stripping tobacco from laths, a standard having a slot to receive the lath, and an apron at one side of the standard forming a support for the lath and tobacco,

said apron being reversible to admit either of the right-hand or the left-hand use of the device, substantially as specified. 7

2. In a device for stripping tobacco from laths, a standard having a slot to receive the lath upon which the tobacco-plants are strung, and a flexible apron at one side of the standard and reinforced at intervals by slats, and means for supporting said apron, substantially as set forth.

3. In a device for strippingtobacco from laths, a standard having a slot for the recep tion of the lath containing the tobacco, an apron for supporting the lath and tobacco at one side of the standard and reversible so as to extend from either side of the stand, and an apron -support detachably fitted to the stand and adapted to project from either side thereof to support the apron in either of its extreme positions, substantially as set forth.

4. In a device for stripping tobacco from laths, a standard having a slot to receive the lath containing the tobacco, an apron for supporting the lath and tobacco, and a guard at the end of the apron adjacent to the slotted standard, substantially as set forth.

5. In a device for stripping tobacco from laths, a standard having a slotto receive the lath containing the tobacco, a support projected laterally from the stand receiving the slotted standard ,an apron of flexible material resting upon said support, and means for stretching the apron and connecting it to the outer end of said support, substantially as specified.

6. In a device for stripping tobacco from laths, comprising a stand, head and tail standards projected upward from the stand, the' head-standard having a vertical slot in its upper end, a roller journaled between the said standards, an apron attached atits inner edge to said roller and reversible so as to project from either side of the stand,and bars supporting the apron and adapted to be fitted to the stand so as to project from either side thereof, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

FRED E. GULLIOKSON. [L. s.] Witnesses:

J. N. EARLE, L. W. EARLE. 

